Senior Journalist Reporter (Shetland)

As the senior journalist reporter working to the assistant editor, you’ll be one of the public faces and voices of the BBC in Shetland.

Job Requisition ID: 34309

Job Closing Date: 02/12/2025

Shetland, GBR, ZE1 0DW

JOB DETAILS

JOB BAND: D
CONTRACT TYPE: Permanent, Full-time
DEPARTMENT: Daily News Scotland – Shetland
LOCATION: Lerwick (office based)
PROPOSED SALARY RANGE: £41,2000 – £55,000 depending on relevant skills, knowledge and experience. The expected salary range for this role reflects internal benchmarking and external market insights.

We’re happy to discuss flexible working. If you’d like to, please indicate your preference in the application – though there’s no obligation to do so now. Flexible working will be part of the discussion at offer stage.

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

BBC Shetland is at the heart of one of Scotland’s most distinctive communities. We’re looking for the right person to help lead our small team of highly talented and dedicated journalists. The role also involves working with freelance contributors who make feature and music programmes for the station. News stories abound from traditional sources like fishing and agriculture; along with Oil, Gas, to an emerging space industry and a growing renewable energy sector. These stories need to be told daily to our audience across Shetland and, when required, to audiences across Scotland and the rest of the UK. You will regularly present and produce our daily news and current affairs programme, Good Evening Shetland. As a multi-media journalist you will also be responsible for originating and producing stories across Radio, TV, Digital and Online. A key role of the job is the ability to shoot, script and edit material across a range of BBC output and generating original ideas.

You can find out more about living and working in Shetland by clicking here
WHY JOIN THE TEAM
As the senior journalist reporter working to the assistant editor, you’ll be one of the public faces and voices of the BBC in Shetland. One day you could be covering a debate on the closure of a rural school and the next day you could be reporting on the national news on power cuts and weather disruption across the islands. You will need to get on with people; have huge reserves of resilience; and be prepared to roll your sleeves up and get stuck into whatever needs to be done

YOUR KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND IMPACT:

Continue to develop and maintain high professional standards of journalism and ensure Radio Shetland’s programmes are of the highest quality possible.
Help to continue the development of programme content across social media and digital platforms.
Help lead the small team of highly dedicated journalists in Radio Shetland, nurturing and developing their talents as journalists and broadcasters.
Deputise for the Assistant Editor as required and liaise with the main newsgathering operation in Glasgow on a regular basis.

YOUR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
ESSENTIAL CRITERIA:

You will have exceptional knowledge and understanding of the issues affecting everyday life in Shetland.
You will have at least three years working in full time journalism with a proven track record of producing original news stories.
You will also have at least three years experience of broadcasting live radio news and other related content.

If you can bring some of these skills and experience, along with transferable strengths, we’d love to hear from you and encourage you to apply.

For more information about the role please contact Assistant Editor – John Johnston

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Disclaimer

This job description is a written statement of the essential characteristics of the job, with its principal accountabilities, incorporating a note of the skills, knowledge and experience required for a satisfactory level of performance. This is not intended to be a complete, detailed account of all aspects of the duties involved.

Please note: If you were to be offered this role, the BBC will conduct Employment screening checks which include Reference checks; Eligibility to work checks; and if applicable to the role, Safeguarding and Adverse media/Social media checks. Any offer made is conditional on these checks being satisfactory.

For any general queries, please contact: [email protected]

Redeployment

The BBC is committed to redeploying employees seeking suitable alternative employment within the BBC and they will be given priority consideration ahead of other applicants. Priority consideration means for those employees seeking redeployment their application will be considered alongside anyone else at risk of redundancy, prior to any individuals being considered who are not at risk.